"Arena is the UK's original men's magazine and for the last 22 years has been the ultimate arbiter of men's style delivering an unrivalled edit of everything the modern man needs to know," Bauer Media said.

"We will be working with our partners to ensure the continued success of Arena's international editions.

"Following this decision, we have now entered consultations with several members of staff. We will be seeking opportunities to redeploy our talented teams in other areas of the group and will not discuss individual employee circumstances until consultation has concluded," the publisher added.

In the latest published ABC figures, for the second half of 2008, Arena's circulation was up 16.4% year on year, but only to 29,374, and this was down on the previous six months.

The men's style title suffered years of decline and was only selling 17,071 actively purchased copies over the last six months of 2008. It was the only magazine in the Bauer Media portfolio that lost money, company insiders said.

Arena has long been eclipsed by rivals GQ, which Condé Nast launched in 1989 and sold 130,094 copies a month in the second half of 2008; and National Magazine Company's Esquire, which relaunched in 2007, and sells 60,051. Bauer Media's FHM, which has been moved upmarket, sells 272,545 copies a month.

However, Arena pioneered the modern men's magazine when it launched. The title grew out of the iconic 1980s magazine, The Face, and hit the streets in 1986, designed by Face designer, Neville Brody.

Arena was the brainchild of Nick Logan, who created The Face, and wanted to provide male readers who had outgrown that title with a quarterly mix of fashion and style. A famous cover in autumn 1988 feature Michael Caine smoking a cigarette.

The success of Arena, which at the height of its success sold more than 93,000 copies an issue in the 1990s, prompted Condé Nast, a part owner of the title since 1988, to launch a British version of GQ in 1989.

Logan was forced to sell his company, Wagadon, which owned The Face and Arena, to Emap, now Bauer Media, when Condé Nast pulled out of the title in 1999. Emap closed the Face in 2004.

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